Monthly Archives: January 2009

Youtube video on the Union Castle Lines from the early 1960s… The Union-Castle Line was a prominent shipping line that operated a fleet of passenger liners and freighters between Europe and Africa from 1900 to 1977. The company originated as Union-Castle Mail Steamship Company, Ltd on 8 March 1900 with the merger of Union Line and Castle Shipping Line, with ... Read More »

great youTUBE video of Berlin in 1929 with views for the Hotel Adlon… Sailing in the 1920s to Germany from New York on the SS Bremen was very popular. Upon arrival, tourists enjoyed a quick train ride from Hamburg to Berlin and then accommodations at the world famous Adlon Hotel in Europe’s favorite destination in the 1920s. Hotel Adlon in ... Read More »

Youtube video on the change from private rail service to Amtrak. Privately run intercity passenger service in Milwaukee was a thing of the past by early 1971. The Federal government had formed Amtrak to remove the burden of passenger service from the railroads and insure that core passenger routes remained active. By May 1st, when Amtrak rolled into Milwaukee, things ... Read More »

A new TITANIC controversy. Did passive good manners kill “polite” British passengers while “pushy” Americans, who don’t know from standing in lines (or queues), survive aboard the doomed (Cunard) White Star Liner RMS TITANIC? You can judge for your self. A new Titanic controversy is a brewing. Here are two current news articles on the subject. But first, for those ... Read More »

Great video showing the wonderful Italian Liner SS Andrea Doria from her golden years to her tragic sinking. The fabulous SS Andrea Doria — we tribute the great Italian Line and their wonderful ship. We also salute all those loyal cruise passengers who have continued to travel over the years. They are the living history of what it was like ... Read More »

This great video uses archival footage and a rare 78rpm recording of the SS United States theme song to highlight the glory days of this fabled ship. The song, “First Lady of the Sea,” was written by brothers Meyer & Emery Davis, who also conducted the ship’s orchestra, and is perhaps a one-of-a-kind demo cut at Apex Records just days ... Read More »

President Barak Obama’s election as the first African-American in the White House happened because of the struggle for unionization by A. Philip Randolph and the members of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. Randolph and the porters worked together to fight many battles and they won many victories for African-American people. They demonstrated and personified the meaning of the word ... Read More »

President-Elect Barack Obama’s arrival in Washington Union Station today was aboard the GEORGIA 300 – a 1930s Pullman manufactured private railway car attached to the rear of the streamlined Amtrak train carrying him from Philadelphia and Baltimore. This was not Obama’s first use of the private car GEORGIA 300 – he used it in his November campaign train. The President ... Read More »

RMS Queen Mary arriving 1936 in Southampton, England. Painting from the British Maritime Museum. Journalist Kyle Kreiger uses his stay at the Queen Mary Hotel in Long Beach to show the comparison between experiencing trans-Atlantic passenger travel from the 1930s to 1960s and contemporary cruising. The former Cunard Line RMS Queen Mary is a destination in itself but a ... Read More »